Sports digest: U.S. women's soccer team prevails 1-0 over Canada

Sydney Leroux scored in the 78th minute, and the U.S. women's soccer team earned a 1-0 win over Canada on Friday night before 20,862 in Frisco, Texas.

Leroux, a Canadian-born U.S. citizen, broke the tie with a left-footed finish 3 yards out after a Becky Sauerbrunn pass got through two defenders and goalkeeper Erin McLeod inside the 6-yard box.

Hope Solo preserved the U.S. win in the 87th minute with a diving save of a Jonelle Filigno shot.

The Americans are 68-0-10 on home soil since a loss to Denmark in Philadelphia in 2004. The U.S., ranked No. 1 in the world, also is undefeated under second-year coach Tom Sermanni (14-0-3).

The U.S. men's national team makes its 2014 debut Saturday at a sold-out StubHub Center in Carson against South Korea (ESPN2, 2 p.m.).

Baseball

Houston pitcher Mark Appel, the No. 1 pick in the 2013 draft, is recovering from an emergency appendectomy. General manager Jeff Luhnow expects the former Monte Vista High-Danville and Stanford star will be able to report to spring training Feb. 15. After throwing 106﻿1/3 innings at Stanford, Appel was held to 10 starts in his pro debut last year. He went 3-1 with a 3.79 ERA between Class A Quad Cities and short-season Tri-City.

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Infielder Michael Young announced his retirement at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. That was his home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons. The seven-time All-Star is Texas' career leader with 2,230 hits. The 37-year-old finished as a career .300 hitter for Texas, Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

College basketball

When No. 17 Duke (17-4, 6-2 ACC) visits No. 2 Syracuse (20-0, 7-0) on Saturday (ESPN, 3:30 p.m.), a Carrier Dome attendance record likely will be set as the two winningest coaches in NCAA Division I history square off for just the third time. Duke's Mike Krzyzewski has 974 wins and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim has 940. A year ago, Syracuse-Georgetown drew a Carrier record 35,012.

Florida coach Billy Donovan said Chris Walker's 12-game suspension for receiving impermissible benefits resulted from the freshman's ignorance of the rules and the NCAA's inability to police AAU programs. The NCAA said Thursday that Walker was eligible to return Tuesday against Missouri.

James Ward won 10 of the last 11 games to take a 1-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Sam Querrey and give Britain a 2-0 lead against the United States in first-round Davis Cup play in San Diego. Ward was two games from losing when he rallied. Also, Andy Murray routed Donald Young 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 on a temporary clay court at Petco Park. Murray and Colin Fleming face Bob and Mike Bryan in doubles Saturday.

Roger Federer and Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka won singles matches, giving Switzerland a 2-0 Davis Cup lead over host Serbia. Also leading 2-0 are France over Australia, Germany over Spain and Kazakhstan over Belgium. Tied 1-1 are the Netherlands vs. the Czech Republic, Japan vs. Canada and Argentina vs. Italy.

Maria Sharapova routed Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 6-2 in a little more than an hour to set up an all-Russian semifinal against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at the Open Gaz de France in Paris. Also, Sara Errani will play Alize Cornet.